►My channel: http://youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►SUBSCRIBE: http://www.youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives?sub_confirmation=1 ►Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►Google+: http://plus.google.com/+TheBestFilmArchives ►Twitter: http://twitter.com/BestFilmArch The tunnel rats were American soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. This US Army Training film shows how tunnel rats destroy enemy earthen tunnels employing CS gas, grenades, conventional military explosives, special Purpose charges, and the XM242 liquid explosive demolition kit. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * About the tunnel Rats: During the Vietnam War "tunnel rat" became a more or less official specialty for volunteer infantrymen, primarily from the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Their motto was the Latin phrase "Non Gratum Anus Rodentum" – "not worth a rat's ass". Since the 1940s, during the war against the French colonial forces, the Viet Cong had created an extensive underground system of complexes. By the 1960s, there were underground hospitals, training grounds, storage facilities, headquarters and more. The Viet Cong, who were crack forces highly skilled at guerrilla warfare, might stay underground for several months at a time. The tunnels were their territory. Whenever troops would uncover a tunnel, tunnel rats were sent in to kill any hiding enemy soldiers and to plant explosives to destroy the tunnels. Tunnel rats were generally, but not exclusively, men of smaller stature (5'6" and under) in order to fit in the narrow tunnels. A tunnel rat was equipped with only a standard issue .45 caliber pistol, a bayonet and a flashlight, although most tunnel rats were allowed to choose another pistol with which to arm themselves. The tunnels were very dangerous, with numerous booby traps and enemies lying in wait. Underground, gas could be a very deadly weapon, and a tunnel rat might choose to go into the tunnels wearing a gas mask as it would be impossible to put one on in a narrow tunnel. More often than not, however, a tunnel rat would take his chances without a gas mask, as it made even harder to see, hear and breathe in the narrow, dark tunnels. Such tactics came to prominence following their successful application in January 1966 during a combined US – Australian action against the Cu Chi tunnels in Binh Duong Province, known as Operation Crimp. About the Vietnam War: The Vietnam War (aka the Second Indochina War) was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam - supported by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China - and the government of South Vietnam - supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries. The communist Viet Cong, a South Vietnamese political organization and army aided by North Vietnam, fought a guerrilla war against the United States and the South Vietnamese forces. The Vietnam People's Army (North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. The U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. The U.S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam under communist rule. The U.S. government viewed American involvement in the Vietnam War as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam with the aim of stopping the spread of communism. American military advisors arrived in South Vietnam in 1950. U.S. combat units were deployed in 1965. Operations crossed international borders: Laos and Cambodia were heavily bombed by the U.S forces as American involvement in the war peaked in 1968, at the time of the communist Tet Offensive. After it the U.S. ground forces were gradually withdrawn as part of the Vietnamization policy, which aimed to end American involvement in the Vietnam War while transferring the task of fighting the Communists to the South Vietnamese themselves. In the United States a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed during the 1960s. Despite the Paris Peace, signed in 1973, fighting continued between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Direct U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the Case-Church Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war. North and South Vietnam were reunified. Vietnam War Tunnel Rats | US Army Training Film: Tunnel Destruction | 1969

• published: 14 Jun 2015
• views: 23445